Christian Brueckner, the German man German prosecutors named as the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, has said for the first time that he was on a beach selling drugs about 150 yards (roughly 450 feet) from the Praia da Luz holiday apartment where the 3-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007. He still denies any role in her disappearance and has never been charged in the case.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Brueckner, 49, said he had smuggled cannabis from Spain into Portugal. “I was on the beach, not far from Maddie’s hotel, selling drugs.” He said police stopped him three times in the street that night while searching for Madeleine and did not find the drugs. “Luckily they didn’t find the drugs. My van was full of them.” He described flashing blue lights and checkpoints and said he was “making a quick getaway” because he feared a drug bust. “I just thought, ‘Get me out of here.’” He said he had stayed silent because “the police want to frame me for the Maddie thing.” “I have nothing to do with the little girl’s disappearance.”

Madeleine disappeared from the Ocean Club apartment while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dined nearby with friends. Brueckner was living in the Algarve at the time. German investigators have cited a mobile phone linked to him that connected to a mast near the resort that night. He has convictions including child sexual abuse, rape of a U.S. tourist in Praia da Luz, drug trafficking and assault. He was released in September 2025 after serving a rape sentence. Reports say he has been living in tents and is planning a book.

Portuguese and German authorities have not publicly confirmed his new account. Madeleine has never been found.

Sources

• Mail on Sunday interview, via New York Post, The Sun, The Independent, The Mirror, LBC, Portugal Resident
• Prior German prosecutor statements (2020) identifying Brueckner as the chief suspect
• Established case background on the May 3, 2007 disappearance in Praia da Luz